Aircraft



0. LANGEVIN.

AIRCRAFT. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3,1919- Patented Aug. 1, 1922.

4 SHEET S-SHEET 1- O. LANGEVIN.

AlRCRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 3, I919.

Patented Aug. 1, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

0. LANGEVIN.

AIRCRAFT. APPLICATION FILED NOV-3,1919.

Patented Aug. 1, 1922.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

Patented Aug. 1, 19221.

4 SHEETS SHEET 4.

O. LANGEVIN.

AIRCRAFT.

APPLlCATION FILED NOV,3, 1919.

UNHTE TATfi onrtann LANGEVIN, on NEW YORK, a. Y.

AIRCRAFT.

Application filed November 3, 1919.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ()Rrrnni LANGEVIN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at New York, in the county ofNew York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aircraft; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and'use the same.

The present invention relates to air craft and consists in the combinations and arrangements of elements hereinafter described and particularly set forth in the accompanying claims.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a diri ible having its nacelle equipped as an aerop ane thus obtaining a combined dirig1-' ble and aeroplane having the features of advantage of each and avoiding any disadvantage attending the use of either alone; and

wherein the design is of simple construction and inexpensive to produce.

The further advantages sought to be attained are the building of the dirigible component of the craft along such lines that the same will serve as a plane for elevation and support, and in having the fuselage of the aeroplane of such design that starting or la'nding'may be done on land or water with equal facility.

Another feature of merit is that the propelling means for the craft is convertible into a helicopter for rising directly into the air from any place of landing, and also serves for use as a stabilizer when the craft is in flight.

It is further purposed to construct the dirigible with a series of independent buoyant chambers or ballonets all assembled into a single'unitary structure and adapted to utilize the heated exhaust gases from the aeroplane motors to keep the gases therein at 4 substantially constant temperature and thereby avoid the likelihood of such gases contracting by cooling as would otherwise be likely to occur under the usual conditions en-' .countered during flight.

In addition to the foregoing advantages the invention possesses other features of great value which will be clearly apparent from the description following, and illus- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 11, 1222.

Serial No. 335,365.

trated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view of the air craft complete.

Figure 2 a front elevational view thereof.

Figure 3 is a bottom plan View.

Figure 4 a longitudinal sectional view of the dirigible unit.

Figure 5 a bottom plan view thereof showing the devices providing for the conversion of the dirigible into a parachute.

Figure 6 a transverse sectional view through one of the dirigible compartments.

Figure 7 a transverse sectional View through the fuselage of the aeroplane.

Figure 8 shows the details of one of the devices for converting the dirigible envelope into a parachute, and

Figures 9 to 13 show details.

Referring to the construction in further detail and wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the difl'er- 'ent figures shown, the improved air craft consists essentially of a dirigible 9 and an aeroplane 10, the fuselage of the latter constituting the nacelle of the dirigible, as clearly shown in Figures 1. and 2. And said dirigible 9 is constructed with an upper portion 11 substantially semi-circular in crosssection and a lower portion 12 that is flattened and cambered to'providea plane that co-operates with the planes 13 of the aeroplane to sustain the air craftwhile in flight. This under surface 12 is flat transversely but longitudinally is curved to produce convex surfaces at the front and rear ends and an intermediate concave surface, which with the tapered ends gives a general streamline surface to the gas holder or balloon. The cambered plane portion 12 is disposed at a positive angle of incidence to the fuselage of dirigible is made preferably, from suitably.

the aeroplane. The upper portion 11 of the treated fabric and the under portion- 12 thereof is designed to be built from thin sheets of aluminum though it is contemplated to construct theentire dirigible body from aluminum.

The combined nacelle and fuselage10 exv tends for the entire length ofthe dirigible envelope and is equipped at the fore end with a tractor propeller 14- driven by the engine 15 (see Figure'S) and on either side are two pusher propellers 16 and 17 connected to be driven respectively\from the motors 18 and 19, there being an engine for each of said pusher propellers. Said motors 18 and 19 are located substantially amid-- ships and at the rear of the air craft.

The landing gear consists of an undercarriage 20 mounted on the framework 21 at the front end of the nacelle and at the rear end thereof there is a single wheel 22 journaled in a rearwardly curved arm 23 that is provided with a reinforcing frame or braces 24. The planes 13 are equipped with the usual ailerons 25, and are also provided with pontoons 26 as shown (see Figures 1, 2, and 3). A pair of pontoons 27 are mounted beneath the rear plane 28 and with said pontoons 26 thus adapt the air craft to alight upon or rise from water as will be understood. The usual pair of'prime elevators or horizontal rudders 29 and a vertical rudder 30 are conveniently connected for controlling all movements of the air craft by the operator Whose station is located within the compartment 31.

To assist the air craft in rising and for the purpose also of equilibration or stability it is proposed to employ the pusher propellers 16 and '17 as helicopters. To this end the supports 16 and 17 a of the propellers 16 and 17 are mounted for angular adjustment and it. will thus be seen that a turn of ninety degrees (90) of the said supports or shafts 16 and 17 will bring said propellers into position where they will function as helicopters.

The nacelle 10 is designed of a boat hull as clearl shown in Figures 1, 2 and 7, with the en that the craft may rest upon the water or rise therefrom without undue strain on any particular part of the structure, and the interior of the nacelle is equipped to comfortably carry a relatively large number of passengers, in addition to the crew, for whose convenience the portholes 32 are provided. The said port holes are distributed in the order most suitable for the seating and observation of the passengers and crew. A companion-way or passage 33 extends the entire length of the nacelle, and the top 34 of-the nacelle body provides a suitable deck or promenade for passing from one end'of the airship to the other, and the door-way 35 on either side of the cabin 31 affords communication tween the deck and the interior of the airship. A guard rail 36 extends along either side of the deck 34 as, shown in Figure 1.

The dirigible balloon body 9 is constructed to provide a plurality of independent compartments or chambers 37, each of which is adapted to independently receive the lifting char e of helium or hydrogen gas to the end t at the rupture of any part of the balloon envelope will be restricted to its paralong the lines ticular compartment" only for obvious reasons. The gas in said chambers is kept at the proper temperature to compensate for conditions of the atmosphere by utilizing the exhaust gases from the engines and for this purpose the several compartments 37 are separated transversely by double partition walls 38 providing a space or chamber 39 therebetween and the several transverse chambers 39 are all'brought into communication by a main longitudinal channel-way 40 extending along the bottom wall 12, and a plurality of smaller channel-ways 41 spaced at substantially equal distances and arranged after the manner best shown in Figure 6. These several passage-ways 40 and 41 are provided by means of the strips 42 of channel design and said strips serve the further function of forming reinforcin elements'for the dirigible body.

eated gases from the exhausts of the motors 15, 18 and 19 are delivered to the spaces surrounding the several compartments 37 through the tubes or pipes 43 and 44 and said pipes are preferably distributed in such a way that the gases will enter their respective c ambers at substantially uniform temperatures, i. e., the gases through the pipes forward chambers while the pipes 44 will deliver into the rearward chambers after substantially the'manner of location of their respective supplying motors 15, 18 and 19. The dirigible envelope is adapted to serve in the capacity of aparachute in the event of emergency and to this end the bottom wall portion 12 is provided with a plurality of hinged sections or panels 45 of substantially the design shown in Figure 5 and adapted to swing downwardly as indicated in Figure 8. The said hinged sections work in pairs from a common control and a description of the operation of one ofsaid pairs will therefore suffice for all.

T 0 each swinging part 45 there is secured an upstandingarm or lever 46 (see Figure 8) and the levers of the pair are disposed toward each other and connected by a suitable rope and pulley device (47 and 48) whereby the movement of one arm 46 in one direction will cause a corresponding movement of the other arm in the opposite direction. An actuating lever 49 is connected to the rope 47 and is itself fulcrumed on the shaft 50 extending the entire length of the air craft and operated by a single control.

The union or connection between the several swinging sections or panels 45 and.

43 will deliver into the middle and lling parachute.

The means for tearing the fabric consists of two ripping devices (see Figs. 11 and 12), each of which comprises a pulling wire 52 connected at one end to the panel, as at 53, and thence passing between the panel 45 and the fabric as shown. A rubber covered wire 54? overlying the fabric 12 and a plain wire 55 embedded in the fabric connect with the free end of said pulling wire, at 56, in such a manner that pulling of wire 52 over pulley 57 will tear away said fabric along two superposed lines and thereby open the envelope to receive the inrushing air.

The envelope body is prevented from otherwise tearing along the marginal edge. of the panels by re-enforcing buttons 58 (see Fig. 13). Said buttons are also located along the channel-ways 41 to strengthen the fabric at those places.

The shaft bearings (16 and 17*) for the propellers are adapted to be adjusted, each by a hand lever 51, for changing the propeller from a pusher to a helicopter, as shown in Figures 9 and 10.

The invention is not to be understood as being limited to the details of construction herein shown and described, as these may be varied widely without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to protect by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In an aircraft, the combination of a streamline dirigible having a cambered under surface fiat transversely and curved longitudinally with convex front and rear portions and a concave intermediate or tion providing a plane having a positive angle of incidence, and an aeroplane sus pended therefrom, substantially as set forth.

2. In an air craft, the combination of a dirigible having a rounded upper portion and a relatively fiat lower portion, an auxiliary envelope surrounding the dirigible body and providing passageways therewith, an aeroplane mounted on the dirigible and located immediately adjacent the dirigible fiat portion, and means for delivering the exhaust gases from the. aeroplane engine into the said passageways, substantially as set forth.

3.1m an air craft, the combination of a dirigible having transversely separated hallonets, a surrounding auxiliary envelope providing therewith passages longitudinally of the dirigible, an aeroplane mounted be: neath the, dirigible, and means for conducting the exhaust gases from the aeroplane engine to said longitudinal passages, substantially as set forth.

4. In an air craft, the combination of a dirigible having transversely separated ballonets, a surrounding auxiliary envelope providing therewith passages longitudinally of the dirigible, said dirigible body having a rounded upper portion and a 'relatively fiat lower portion providing a plane, an aeroplane secured to the dirigible immediately beneath said lower plane portion, and means for conducting the exhaust gases from the engine of the aeroplane to the longitudinal passages of'the dirigible, substantially as set forth. I

5. In an air craft, the combination of a dirigible having a plurality of independent ballonets having spaces therebetween, means for admitting gas into each ballonet separately, an aeroplane suspended from the dirigible, and means for conducting the exhaust gases from the engine of the aeroplane to the spaces between the dirigible ballonets, substantially as set forth.

6. In an air craft, the combination of a dirigible having a plurality of independent ballonets with spaces therebetween for heated vapors, a plurality of channel-ways connecting the several vapor spaces, an aeroplane suspended from the dirigible, and means for conducting the exhaust gases from the engine of the aeroplane to said channel-ways, substantially as set forth.

7. ln an air craft, the combination of a dirigible having a plurality of independent gas compartments, said compartments having weakened bottom wall portions, an aeroplane suspended from the dirigible, and means for opening the weakened bottom walls of said dirigible compartments whereby the dirigible will provide a parachute body in the event of falling, substantially as set forth.

8. In an air craft, the combination of a dirigible having a plurality of compartments with frangible bottom ortions, an aeroplane suspended from the dlrigible, and means for tearing open the bottom wall of each of said com artments whereby the no dirigible will provlde a parachute body in the event of falling, substantially as set forth.

9. In an air craft, the combination of a dirigible having a plurality of compartments with frangible bottom portions, an aeroplane suspended from the dirigible, a device for tearing open the bottom wallof each of said compartments, and means for operating all of said devices simultaneously 12c -whereby the dirigible will provide a paraelicopter, substantially as set forth. 1'30 11. In an aircraft, the combination of a dirigible constructed with a cambered undersurface providing a plane having a positive angle of incidence, an aeroplane suspended therefrom, and tractor and pusher propelling means for the aeroplane, said pusher propelling means operable to serve as a helicopter co-operable with the dirigible for lifting the aircraft, substantially as set forth.

12. In an aircraft, the combination of a dirigible constructed with a cambered undersurface providing a plane having a positive angle of incidence, an aeroplane suspended therefrom, and a tractor and a plurality of pusher propelling means for the aeroplane, each of said propelling means operable as a helicopter co-operable With the dirigible for lifting the aircraft, substantially as set forth. 13. In an aircraft, the combination of a streamline dirigible constructed with a cambered undersurface providing an elevating and supporting plane, and an aeroplane having a rigid suspension from the dirigible, the cambered undersurface of the dirigible having convex front and rear portions and as set forth.

15. In an aircraft, the'combination of a vdirigible constructed with an under surface flat transversely and curved longitudinally, and having the nacelle thereof constructed as a watercraft; thedirigible under surface having an angle of incidence with the longitudinal axis of the nacelle; Wings mounted on the nacelle, and floats mounted on said wings. I

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

. ORPHEE LANGEVIN. 

